


Absent

by Dogsocks



Series: Words Not Spoken [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Food Poisoning, M/M, POV Alternating, Poor Yahaba, Sickfic, sickness and care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 09:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7354759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dogsocks/pseuds/Dogsocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If he's going to be sick and in terrible pain, he might as well be sick and in terrible pain with a beautiful boy's soothing hands in his hair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Absent

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this _still_ isn't the sad story I've been writing (Which I PROMISE is still coming soon). My sibling pointed out to me that I keep torturing Kyoutani, so here's some Yahaba torture to even it out! 
> 
> (Again, you don't need to read the rest of the series first, but this is part of the same universe as the other ones I've written. But it'd be super cool if you did read it :P)

It's a nice day out. A little cold, but it's sunny, and neither of them need more than a light jacket. Yahaba and Kyoutani decided that it was a good day to eat outside at one of the restaurants down town, where they sit now at a small table on the sidewalk.

"Do you want a bite of my burger?" Kyoutani asks, tilting the sandwich toward Yahaba. 

Yahaba isn't big on sharing food, but the burger Kyoutani is offering is really tempting. After a few seconds of silent contemplation, Yahaba caves. "Sure," he says finally, taking the burger. He takes a bite out of the untouched side and wow, this was definitely a good idea. "That's really good," Yahaba comments as he gives the food back.

"Eh, it's not bad," Kyoutani says causally before taking another bite.

"Where have you had a better burger than that?" Yahaba asks, going back to his own food.

"This place the next town over. We can go sometime if you want," Kyoutani replies, seeming pretty excited at the thought of going. "If you don't mind the walk."

"Sounds like a plan," Yahaba says before popping a shrimp in his mouth. Oh, wait. "Do you want some of mine?" Yahaba adds quickly, gesturing to his half empty plate.

Kyoutani scrunches up his nose in the most adorable way Yahaba has ever seen before shaking his head. "No, I don't like shrimp."

"Your loss," Yahaba says with a dismissive shrug. "Shrimp is great."

"Ew, no."

***

The bill comes and Kyoutani snatches it away before Yahaba can. It's Kyoutani's turn to pay, though he sees Yahaba start to reach for it anyways.

"Didn't you pay last?" Yahaba asks, tilting his head a little, "At that place we went for lunch?"

"I did pay for that, but you payed for breakfast that one time after that."

Yahaba always tries to pay the bill. He doesn't protest after that, but Kyoutani knows he didn't forget the breakfast.

Kyoutani notices Yahaba waving. Who is he waving at? It's not Kyoutani. He turns, following Yahaba's gaze to see Watari walking down the street with a few groceries in his hands, waving back as best he can with that friendly grin. 

Watari and Kyoutani are friends now, he's pretty sure at least. He's one of the most tolerable people Kyoutani has ever met, and he's friendly enough to just about anyone he meets, though sometimes that irritates Kyoutani. He feels like he should wave too, so he does. It's more of an awkward hand movement than a real wave, but Watari's face brightens even more, if that's possible. Damn, that smile is contagious.

 

"Watachi, Kyouken-chan!" Oikawa coos as he walks up to where Kyoutani is practicing his serves while Watari works on receiving. Kyoutani grimaces at the nickname as Watari jogs over obediently.

"Don't call me that," Kyoutani grunts as Oikawa throws a hand on each of their shoulders. Kyoutani can feel his body tense up. Why is Oikawa so touchy? And loud? And irritating? It's gross.

"How are my two favorite second years?" Oikawa says, ignoring the comment all together. "Speaking of second years, where's my other favorite second year?"

Kyoutani actually doesn't even know. He hadn't seen Yahaba on his way to school, and now it's morning practice and he's still nowhere to be found. It's not like Yahaba to skip or miss school if he doesn't have to. Kyoutani could call him, but they aren't allowed to use their phones at practice. He had been planning on calling at lunch to see where the hell Yahaba is, but maybe Watari knows.

"I don't know where he is," Watari says. Well, so much for that. "But, he did call me this morning. I missed it, but when I called him back, he didn't pick up." Yahaba called Watari and not Kyoutani. Shit, he really hopes this isn't about him somehow. Oh god, what if it is?

"Kyoutani?" Oikawa asks with an expectant look on his face.

"I haven't seen him all morning."

"Seriously, neither of you know where Yahaba is?" Oikawa asks as if that's absurd. 

"It's not like it's our job to keep tabs on his whereabouts twenty-four-seven," Kyoutani adds.

Oikawa sighs and practically deflates from his previously peppy posture. "I had some captainly knowledge to bestow upon him today. Well, tell me if you see him during school."

"Will do."

"Whatever."

***

"Watari! Answer your phone, I know you're not at practice yet. I'm dying," Yahaba whines into his phone. He hangs it up and tosses it lazily across the room into a pile of folded laundry. Where is Watari in his time of need?

Yahaba feels horrible. Worse than horrible. They should make a new word to describe this level of horribleness. When he was getting up for school, he felt a little nauseous and just not good in general. His mom made him stay home and rest, so he did. It wasn't a good feeling, but it was manageable. That was hours ago. Now it's complete hell. He feels all gross and feverish, switching frequently between freezing and sweating his ass off. He's thrown up twice already, and it feels like number three is approaching fast. On top of all that, his stomach still hurts way too much to ignore. He didn't even know he could physically feel this much stomach pain at once. He lays curled up in a sad little blob on his bed, trying to read as a distraction, but not really getting that far. 

He had tried to call Watari a few times, but he wasn't picking up. At first it had been to tell him that he was staying home sick. Now he's just calling in a desperate attempt to get some kind of help, or advice, or literally _anything_ to deal with the hell that's going on inside of him. He had tried to call his mom, but she's at work, so she didn't answer. And now Watari isn't answering either.

Just as he thinks that, his phone rings. Across the room. So very far away. That means getting up. Throwing the phone was a bad idea. Yahaba groans loudly to no one as he rolls partially off his bed and slides pathetically the rest of the way to the floor. It isn't the best way of getting out of bed, but it's fine. It hurts a little less than standing, but maybe that's just because everything still in him is about to come up again.

He gets onto his knees, then his feet, stumbling across the room as he does. Finally, he reaches the basket of laundry where his phone lights up with Watari's name. Yahaba reaches out a hand, and the ringing stops. Why? Why does this happen to him?

After calling Watari again, with no damn answer _again_ , Yahaba decides to plop down on the floor and wallow in his own gross misery for a while. Or maybe just take a nap.

Nope. Scratch that. First, he has to crawl to the bathroom and throw up again. Like right now, oh god, wow. Okay. Move it, body, get up. There we go.

Yahaba makes it to the bathroom just in time to heave the contents of his stomach into the toilet instead of onto the floor. Honestly, Yahaba isn't sure how there's still anything in him to throw up at this point. 

It makes him feel better for about ten seconds before all the pain comes flooding back to wreak havoc on his abdomen. And to make it all better, now the muscles in his sides hurt from heaving so hard. 

He melts back onto the cold tile floor which feels great on his hot skin, but at the same time terrible because he's still really cold. Fevers suck. This sucks. Yahaba curls into a little ball that makes the pain a little more tolerable and groans loudly into the silence of the empty house.

Well, now he can nap, at least. Right here on the bathroom floor, because there is no way in hell he's getting up for _anything_ right now. He can't even bring himself to get to the sink and rinse his mouth out, which is disgusting, but Yahaba has pretty much accepted that at this point. He's alone anyways, who the hell even cares how disgusting he is right now? Well, Yahaba does, but not enough to force his body into anything even resembling a vertical position.

That's when he hears his cell phone ring from down the hall.

Nope.

***

"He called me again."

"Yahaba?" Kyoutani asks as he walks with Watari to their usual lunch spot. Kindaichi and Kunimi are already there, with Kunimi already asleep on Kindaichi. Kunimi always uses lunch time as nap time, which is really fucking weird, but Kyoutani usually chooses to ignore it.

"Yeah," Watari replies, glancing up, "Right after I called him, apparently. But I was already in the locker room when I had called the first time, so by the time he called me back I had left my phone in my bag."

"I called him earlier but he didn't pick up. Are you going to call him back?" Kyoutani asks as they sit down, still worried in the back of his mind that this is about him somehow. Could Yahaba be avoiding him or something?

"Yeah, I'll be right back." 

"Call who?" Kunimi, who is apparently still awake, asks as Watari walks away.

"Yahaba," Kyoutani answers flatly, taking out his lunch.

"Oh yeah, why wasn't he at practice?" Kindaichi chimes in. 

"That's why he's calling, dipshit." Kyoutani doesn't know why he's suddenly irritated. The two first years are a little annoying, though usually tolerable, but neither of them said anything particularly obnoxious just then. Maybe it's just because Kyoutani _doesn't_ know what's wrong that's making him so on edge.

It's not like he has any way to find out, but he feels like he _should_ know.

***

"Watari!" Yahaba groans into the phone, "Finally. Help me, I'm dying."

 _"I'm going to make a guess and say that you probably aren't dying,"_ Watari says on the other end. _"So what's wrong with you, besides all the usual stuff?"_

"Ha, ha, Watari. So funny," Yahaba says as he rolls over on the floor and attempts to get back to his bed. "You really shouldn't insult someone who's about to die. I'll come back and haunt you or something."

 _"Oh, I'm really scared now, Yahaba,"_ Watari chuckles. _" Anyways, why aren't you at school?"_

"Because, I guess I'm sick with something, and it sucks," he says as he crawls back into bed and curls into a ball under the covers. "I threw up a bunch, which is disgusting, and I'm pretty sure I have a fever now, which sucks because I'm really cold but I'm _sweating!_ " Yahaba screeches, kicking the blanket off in a pathetic manner that he's really glad no one can see. "And on top of it all, my stomach has decided it hates me and is currently self destructing. That's how it feels anyways." Yahaba rolls onto his back and groans loudly into the phone until he hears Watari sigh.

 _"What do you want me to do about it?"_ Watari asks finally. _"I'm at lunch right now. It's not like I can come over there."_

"I don't know, tell me what to do," Yahaba whines. He knows he sounds pathetic, but that's reasonable considering he feels pretty pathetic too. "I just want it to stop hurting, or hurt less, or something. Anything."

 _"What makes you think I know what to do? I'm not your mom, Yahaba. Why didn't you just ask her?"_ he asks.

"I tried that, she's at work and she won't answer me. I don't even know what's wrong. I woke up feeling gross and it just got worse and now it's _hell_. I literally crawled to the bathroom last time, Watari." 

_"It sounds like a stomach bug maybe, or food poisoning,"_ Watari says like he's thinking about something else. _"Hey, what did you get at lunch yesterday?"_ Wait, why does Watari know he was out to lunch yesterday?

"How do you know that?"

 _"I saw you! You waved to me, remember?"_ Oh, yeah. Wow, Yahaba is really out of it right now.

"Oh, yeah. Um, I had shrimp," Yahaba answers after a long pause.

_"Then it's probably food poisoning from some bad shrimp. It happens."_

"So how do I get rid of that? What do I take?" Yahaba questions quickly, relieved to put a name to this horrible feeling. 

_"You don't, really."_ Yahaba's heart sinks to the floor, accompanied by another distressed groan. _"What? It's not like I can change that! You just have to wait it out. Make some tea or something. That should help."_

Yahaba lets out a long sigh, followed by a large crash to his left, which makes his heart jump high enough off the floor to almost land back in his chest. He glances over and catches sight of Newt scurrying away from a large stack of things that he ever so kindly decided to knock off the desk. Nice. This day just keeps getting better.

 _"What was that sound?"_ Watari asks, sounding concerned.

"Oh, nothing. Just the sound of my soul leaving my body." Watari only chuckles at this. It sounds like he's about to talk, but the feeling in Yahaba's stomach speaks first. "Shit," Yahaba mumbles, stumbling out of bed.

_"What?"_

"I'm literally about to throw up, oh god."

 _"Well, that's my cue to hang up. Feel better, Yahaba,"_ Watari says. Maybe he says goodbye, and maybe he hangs up, but Yahaba doesn't know or care. He's already dropped the phone somewhere during the mad dash for the bathroom.

Somehow, there's still something in him to throw up, and boy does he. He flops back onto the bathroom floor, and this time he's going to stay here for a bit. Yahaba rolls over. Maybe he'll get up to make tea someday. Not right now though. Now, he's just going to try to sleep and keep the contents of his stomach where they belong for a while.

***

Kyoutani is relieved he didn't fuck anything up. Yahaba is just sick. Watari said it was food poisoning and he can't help but feel relieved that he didn't take any of that shrimp, or he would be in the same boat right now.

On his walk home, he finally has a chance to call Yahaba himself.

 _"Hello?"_ Yahaba answers, sounding like he might have been asleep, or at least trying to.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kyoutani asks, going in the direction of Yahaba's house instead of his own.

_"Not really, no. But I'll be fine, someday."_

"We were going to hang out today, but I can still come over and, I don't know, take care of you or something. Watari said you were home alone." Kyoutani isn't really sure how to take care of someone who's sick. He never really needed to before, besides taking care of himself. But he feels bad not doing anything to help Yahaba.

 _"No, no, no,"_ Yahaba quickly protests.

"What, why?"

 _"I do not need you seeing me like this. I look gross and I smell like death. No thank you. I'll be fine,"_ he insists.

"Too bad, I'm here."

_"Wait, what? No--"_

Kyoutani hangs up and goes inside.

***

Why? Why is Kyoutani coming over? This is terrible. He's going to see Yahaba like this, hair a mess, in some old, very sweaty pajamas, probably looking like he hasn't slept in days. Not to mention he definitely smells like vomit and sadness.

Before he can think on it further, his window slides open and Kyoutani rolls in, plopping onto the end of Yahaba's bed. It startles Yahaba, and he's really confused before he remembers that the front door must still be locked.

"I told you not to come," Yahaba whines as he hides under his covers.

"And I told you I was already here. Plus I don't give a shit what you look like," Kyoutani says, sliding up to Yahaba. "You're sick, and home alone. I'm here to help you, or whatever." Kyoutani sounds really unsure of himself, but the effort he's putting forth is adorable. 

Yahaba feels Kyoutani begin to rub his arm through the blanket in a way that makes Yahaba want to melt into the sheets. For someone so aggressive, Kyoutani can actually be surprisingly soothing when he wants to be. It makes him forget, for a short moment, the war being waged in his organs.

"So, how are you feeling?" Kyoutani asks slowly, moving his hand down to rub big, slow circles on his back.

"Like _death_ ," Yahaba replies from beneath the blankets, "I threw up a bunch, and it hurts really bad, and I don't know what to do about it, and I'm really cold, but it's way too hot under here, and everything is terrible" he whines in quick succession. 

"Maybe you should come out from under the _large, fuzzy blanket_ then."

"No."

Kyoutani sighs. "So, do you need anything?" he asks softly.

"I don't even know," Yahaba replies weakly. He has no idea what to do when he or other people are sick, and he's never had food poisoning before. "There's nothing I can really do but wait. Which is the worst because until then it just hurts a lot even after I throw up. Watari said I should make tea, but I couldn't see myself getting all the way to the kitchen and then somehow back up the stairs. So, I settled for crawling back to bed."

"Oh, yeah," Kyoutani says getting off the bed. Yahaba peeks through the blankets to see him pull a tea bag out of his backpack. "I brought you some ginger tea. I went by the convenience store on the way here." It's actually really sweet that Kyoutani thought to bring tea for Yahaba.

Yahaba scrunches his nose. "Ew, why ginger though?"

"It's a medicinal tea. It'll make your stomach feel better."

"Why do you even know that?" Yahaba asks.

Kyoutani shrugs. "I know a lot about plants. Plus, I used to get a lot of stomach aches when I was a little kid."

With that, Kyoutani goes downstairs to make the tea. When he returns, he's holding a steaming mug in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

***

"I brought water, too, because you need fluids and stuff when you're sick. Especially when you're barfing up all the liquid in your body," Kyoutani says as he enters.

Yahaba is still in a ball under his blankets except for his eyes and nose as he mumbles something that sounds like a thank you. Yahaba reaches for the mug, like he expects to be able to drink it like that. Kyoutani pulls it away. 

"Come out from under there and sit up," Kyoutani says firmly as Yahaba grumbles at him from under the blanket. "No tea until you do. Come on, you can't seriously expect to stay like that the whole time."

After a lot of persuading and nudging, Kyoutani finally gets Yahaba to sit up, though he still keeps the blanket around his whole body. Yahaba reaches for the tea again but Kyoutani puts both drinks on his nightstand, out of reach. Yahaba makes an adorable sound of protest.

"Stop being ridiculous," Kyoutani says, fighting with Yahaba to pull the blanket off his face.

"No, Kyoutani, stop!" Yahaba protests. As Kyoutani finally gets the blanket down, Yahaba quickly covers his face with both hands.

Kyoutani sighs, getting on the bed and straddling Yahaba's legs while he tries to pry away his hands. Yahaba's putting up such a fight, it's ridiculous. Does Yahaba really think Kyoutani cares that he doesn't look perfect when he's sick? Kyoutani couldn't care less, actually. He just wants to make Yahaba feel better. Yahaba always makes Kyoutani feel better. He wants to return the favor and be there for Yahaba like Yahaba is for him.

Eventually, Kyoutani manages to get his hands away from his face. He's a little paler than usual, looks a little more tired, and there's a light sheen of sweat that makes a few of his hairs stick to his forehead, but he's beautiful just the same. Maybe his hair isn't as perfect as usual, maybe he didn't put himself together in the perfect way he usually does, and maybe he looks a little messy. That doesn't matter. Kyoutani might even like this a little better. He looks more like himself in some ways. It's like seeing a girl without her makeup.

Across from him, Yahaba is pouting in defeat. Kyoutani leans forward and kisses him on the forehead, running his hands through Yahaba's messy hair. Yahaba hums a pleased sound from beneath him.

***

Yahaba didn't want Kyoutani here, or for him to see Yahaba looking and smelling this bad, but he's here now, so what's the use in fighting it anymore? Besides, this is actually better than anything else he could be doing right now. If he's going to be sick and in terrible pain, he might as well be sick and in terrible pain with a beautiful boy's soothing hands in his hair.

Yahaba reaches his hands up to stroke the hair right by Kyoutani's neck, which by now he's realized is one of Kyoutani's favorite things. With their foreheads pressed together, Yahaba can see Kyoutani close his eyes. It's like petting a cat, honestly.

Eventually, Kyoutani pulls away and gets up to finally bring Yahaba his tea. Yahaba cringes as he takes a sip, expecting the worst, but finds it's far less terrible than ginger tea usually is. It actually tastes pretty good.

"What did you do to this to make it less horrible?" Yahaba asks as Kyoutani sits on the side of the bed.

"It's the magic power of cranberry juice and honey," Kyoutani says, beginning to gently stroke Yahaba's leg through the blanket without really noticing. "I figured if angry six year old me would drink it, you probably would, too. Do you need anything else?" he asks softly, looking at Yahaba with such genuine concern, Yahaba would kiss him right then if he wasn't aware of how terribly vomit flavored that would be. 

"Um, maybe a face cloth with some cold water on it?" Yahaba suggests like it's a question and not a statement. Kyoutani nods and is about to get up when Yahaba feels his stomach tell him to get to the damn bathroom.

"Shit, move. Move!" Yahaba mumbles hysterically, practically falling out of bed past Kyoutani before stumbling quickly down the hallway. He doesn't know where Kyoutani is anymore. He's only aware of the cold floor beneath his knees and the toilet he clings to desperately as his stomach empties itself again. 

His sides hurt even more now as he hangs his head between his shoulders. He didn't hear Kyoutani come in, but he can feel when Kyoutani's hand comes down to run through his hair again. Something cold presses against his arm and when he looks up, he sees Kyoutani looking down at him and holding out a glass of water.

Thank god, because Yahaba was not making the long journey to a standing position just to rinse out his mouth. He takes the water, rinsing and spitting a few times before actually taking a drink.

When the cup is empty, Kyoutani takes it back and sets it on the counter before scooping up the disheveled blob on the floor that is Yahaba. He lifts him easily into his arms, carrying Yahaba back to his room. Yahaba has half a mind to think about how hot this is, but really at the moment, he only has the mental capacity to be grateful for the transportation.

Kyoutani sets Yahaba down gently on the bed before leaving again to actually get the cloth Yahaba has forgotten he even asked for. He returns promptly, standing awkwardly by the bed like he's waiting for further instructions. 

"Come sit with me," Yahaba chirps lazily, tapping a spot on the bed. Kyoutani does, sitting sideways on the bed and leaning his back against Yahaba's wall. Yahaba scoots over and lays down with his head in Kyoutani's lap. Kyoutani puts the cloth on Yahaba's forehead and begins to run a hand through his hair again. This is the best thing he ever could have asked for.

Yahaba grabs Kyoutani's other hand with his own and laces their fingers together. It's probably clammy and gross, but Kyoutani came over, so this is his own fault. Then again, though his stomach still feels like it's turned inside out, Yahaba knows it's a little bit better this way.

"I'm glad you came," Yahaba says, closing his eyes. Suddenly he feels tired, which is fine since all he's wanted to do all day is sleep. Now maybe he finally will.

"Me too," Kyoutani says, brushing the hair away from Yahaba's forehead and fixing the cloth before sliding his fingers back through Yahaba's messy locks.

"I love you," Yahaba mumbles. Wow, woah, wait. He did not expect those words to come out of his mouth, nor did he tell them to. Oh god. He feels Kyoutani freeze. Oh no, he ruined it, didn't he?

"I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> There it is. I loved writing this a little too much. So, another one is coming soon, but for now, thank you for reading and leaving me kudos and comments! Hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
